Furnace.



No. 653,434. I Patented July lo, |900. A. c. ADAMS a. N. c. KNuTsnN.

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(Application filed July 1, 1899.) (No Model.)

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NITED STAT-Es PATENT Oruro ALFRED C. ADAMS AND NUTE C. KNUTSON, OF VVOODS'IOCK, ILLINOIS.

FURNACE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of LettersrPa/cent No. 653,434, dated July 10, 1900. Application filed July l, H399. YSerial No. 722,611. (No model.)

To @ZZ whom it may concern:

Beit known that we, ALFRED C. ADAMS and NUTE C. KNUTSON, of lVoodstoclr, in the county of McHenry and State of Illinois, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Furnaces, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to improvements in furnaces, and relates more specifically to an improved construction in the combustionchambers of furnaces adapted to promote a, more perfect and economical combustion of the fuel, and hence may be classed as belonging to the type known as smoke-consuming furnaces.

Among the salient objects of the invention are to provide an exceedingly-practical, easily-applied, and cheap construction which will insure a more perfect combustion of the fuel and consequent lessening of the amount of smoke produced; to increase the efficiency of the furnace by increasing the area over which the combustion is maintained in a mosteffective condition; to provide means whereby the combustion-chamber may be at will separated or in part separated or partitioned into upper and lower compartments, thereby enabling the products of combustion to be confined or in part confined in more intimate relation to the boiler; to provide a partitioning grate or screen for thus separating the combustion-chamber constructed in such manner and of such material that its presence will produce or bring about a regenerative effect which will promote the more perfect combustion of the gases; to provide a construction which is both cheap to produce and at the same time -is capable of successfully withstanding the high degree of heatproduced in furnaces, and in general to provide improvements in the general details of construction whereby the invention is carried into practip end elevation.

Fig. 2 is a transverse sectional view of the same, taken on line 2 2 of Fig. l. Fig. 3 is a fragmentary detail of a portion of the regenerative grate, showing the grate-bars in Fig. 4 is a top plan view of the parts shown in Fig. 3. Fig. 5 is a fragmentary detail, in side elevation, of an upper portion of the central grate-supporting wall. 6o

, Referring to said drawings, A designates as a whole an ordinary horizontal boiler,whicl1 may be of any desired and suitable construction, mounted in a furnace-setting constructed, so far as its general features are concerned, in the usual way ordinarily adopted for stationary furnaces-that is to say, said furnace comprises a fire-box B, arranged to extend across the front part of the furnace underneath the front end of the4 boiler, containing a fuel-supporting grate B', arranged to divide the fire-box horizontally at a point bers or passages B4 B5 at the rear and front endsrespectively, of the boiler, and which communicate with each other through the fire-tubes a of the boiler.

Describing now the parts constituting our present invention, it will-be understood that while jwe have chosen to illustrate the invention as embodied in a furnace of the stationary type and in connection with a fire-tube boiler, yet we do not Wish to be understood as in any sense limiting the scope of our invention to this particular type of furnace or tothis particular kind of boiler, but, on the contrary, wish it to be understood that the invention is adapted to a Wide range of furnaces and to most types of boilers.

. Referring now to the combustion-chamber of the furnace, C designates as a whole a horizontally-arranged grate or shutter-like parti# ltion arranged to separate the lower part of IOC sirably and, as shown herein, approximately on a level with the upper end of the bridgewall B2 or in a furnace of-ordinary size from twelve to fifteen inches below the boiler. In the preferred embodiment shown herein said grate is composed of two longitudinally-extending series of grate-bars, the individual bars of which are approximately diamond or lozenge shaped in cross-section and are arranged to extend transversely of the furnace parallel with and adjacent Ito each other. Said bars are pivotally supported at their ends, so that when oscillated into a position lying approximately fiat their edges meet and overlap each other slightly shutter fashion, thereby completely separating or partitioning the upper part of the combustion-chamber from the lower part thereof, While when oscillated into vertical position, as indicated in dotted lines in Fig. 3, spaces are left between the bars, permitting the free passage of the products of combustion therebetween.

In order that the grate-bars may properly withstand the extreme heat of the furnace and at the same time may produce a regenerative effect upon the gases, which we have found in practice very effectively aids and promotes perfect combustion, we construct said bars of refractory material, preferably of fire-clay, which under the heat of the combustion of gases in the furnace rapidly becomes incandescent. As a convenientl means of pivotally supporting the bars each is provided in each end with an axially-extending truunion-aperture, within which is seated a short trunnion e. (See Fig. 2.) The trunnions at the outer ends of said grate-bars have bearing in trunnion-blocks c', also of refractory material, such as fire-brick, which are convenientlysupported upon lining-walls D, built up against the inner sides of the combustion-chamber to extend the full length of the latter end,- rising to a suitable height to support said trunnion-blocks. In like manner the inneren ds of the grate-bars have bearing in similar refractory bearing-blocks c2, which are supported upon a central longitudinally-extending support E, which in order to avoid dividing the lower part of the combustion-chamber desirably consists of an iron Stringer or I-beam e, supported at each end and at its middle by lneans of brick piers e c2 and upon which is mounted a supportingwall e3, of ordinarybrick, thus forming a suitable support upon which the refractory bearing-blocks are mounted. In order to minimize the effects of expansion and contraction of the I-beam under the heat of the furnace, the latter is desirablyinade in two or more sections, as indicated at e4.

For convenience of assembling and removing the gratebars the refractory bearingblocks are each made in sections, the line of division c3 passing through the trunnion-aperture, as indicated clearly in Fig. 5.

As a convenient means of oscillating the grate-bars each individual bar C is provided Vwith an arm F, connected with its lower edge,

desirably by having one end inserted through and secured within a suitable aperture c4 in the grate-bar at a point located centrally of its length and depending downwardly therefrom. Each arm is provided at its lower end with a wrist or right-angled portion f, which wrists severally extend through suitable apertures g, formed in a shifting bar G, suspended from and extendinglongitudinallybeneath each series of grate-bars. rlhe rear ends of said shifting bars g are each extended out through a suitable opening in the wall of the furnace and are engaged externally thereto with hand-levers II,pivotally mounted upon said wall and whereby the shifting bars may he shifted end wise, so as to oscillate and open or close the grate in an obvious manner.

In operation the grate will be opened from time to time to allow the ashes which collect thereon to drop down into the chamber beneath or to permit the gases of combustion to enter the lower part` of the combustion-chamber, as found desirable. The gases and products of combustion rising from the fire-grate pass over the bridge-wall and thence over the regenerative grate on their way to the smokebox at the rear of the boiler. When first starting up the fire, the gas will not be perfectly burned, and more or less smoke will pass from the furnace; but the regenerative grate, owing to its non-conducting nature, soon becomes thoroughly heated and incandescent, and the combustion is maintained in very perfect condition throughout the entire length ofthe grate, so that very little or no unconsumed carbon-. c., black smoke-passes through the furnace. This obviously greatly increases the area of the furnace throughout ywhich the combustion is maintained in its most efficient condition and results not only in consuming the smoke, but in greatly increasing the efficiency of the furnace and correspondingly reducing the amount of fuel required.

The advantage in being able to entirely close the regenerative partition lies in the fact that the products of combustion shall thereby have uninterrupted passage through the combustion-chamber, which is advisable when it is desired to utilize the entire heat of the outgoing products to heat the boiler directly by confining the flames close to the same-as, for instance, when the fire is started or when but a small fire is maintained which is not suficient to properly heat the entire surfaces of the regenerative blocks. It will also be seen that in providing for the adjustment of the blocks or bars to vary the spaces therebetween more or less of the products of combustion may be directed into the combustion-chamber below the bars, according to the constantly-varying conditions of use, for where the maxim um capacity of the boiler is required and the fire is maintained atits maximum the bars will be opened wide to permit the full circulation of the products around the IIO bars, whereas when less than the full capacity of the boiler is required and the fire is low the bars may be adjusted so as to permit only a partial circulation of the products below them or be entirely closed. Thus it will be observed that the maximum utility of the regenerative grate may be obtained under all conditions.

We are aware that it is not broadly new to provide a grate arranged horizontally in the lower part of the combustion-chamber of a furnace, such a grate being shown in Patent No. 295,188 vto C. McMillan, granted March 18, 1884. Ourinvention is, however, radically different from the construction shown in that patent, for the reason that whereas that patent shows hollow metal grate-bars set belowI the path of the products of combustion 1and through which air is introduced, thus keeping them cool enough to withstand the heat of the furnace, but absolutely preventing any incandescing effect, our grate-bars are supported with their upper faces directly in the path of the outgoing flames and gases and constructed of non-conductin g refractory material especially adapted to rapidly acquire and withstand an incandescing heat, and it is to the incandescing of the grate that we largely attribute the eiiiciency of the invention.

We are also aware of the British patent to Woodland, No. 18,693, dated August 12, 1897, in which a vibratory grate surface of refractory blocks is supported in the path of the products of combustion in the combustionchamber, the blocks being permanently separated to provide spaces for the continuous discharge of soot, tbc., and for the free circulation of air and products of combustion; but our arrangement differs from that structure in that we provide for entirely closing the grate surface or partition, thereby confining the iiames closely to the boiler-surface and preventing circulation of air and gases between the bars of the partition, whereby the refractory partition will be more quickly and more intensely heated and the regenerative effect more effectively kept up, it being especiaily desirable to keep the grate or partition closed until the iire gets well started, as is obvious.

We claim as our invention- 1. In a furnace, the combination with a firebox and a combustion-chamber into which the products of combustion pass from the firebox, of a grate arranged in the upper part of the combustion-chamber in the direct path of the outgoing products of combustion and extending horizontally beneath the boiler, said grate consisting of grate-bars made of substantially non-conducting material sufficiently refractory to withstand heating to incandescence, and means whereby said bars are closed to form a closed partition and opened to discharge the collected soot, (itc.

2. In a furnace, the combination with a firebox and a combustion-chamber into which the products of combustion pass from the firebox, of a regenerated grate arranged in the upper part of the combustion-chamber in the direct path of the outgoing products of combustion and extending horizontally beneath the boiler, said grate consisting of grate-bars made of lire-brick and capable of overlapping in one adjustment and separating in another adjustment, and means wherebysaid adjustments are accomplished.

3. In a furnace, the combination with a firebox and a combustion-chamber into which the products of combustion from the lire-box pass, of a grate arranged in the upper part of the combustion-chamber in the path of the products of combustion and extending horizontally beneath the boiler, said grate consisting of grate-bars made of fire-brick pivotally supported so as to be capable of movement to open and close the grate, and devices below the grate for adjusting and agitating the bars.

4. In a furnace, the combination with a firebox, a combustion-chamber into which the products of combustion pass from the firebox and a bridge-wall interposed between the tire-box and combustion-chamber, of a grate arranged in the upper part of the combustionchamber and completely dividing the latter, said grate consisting of one or more series of grate-bars made of fire-clay of relatively-fiat forni and arranged parallel with each other at a suitable distance apart to cause their edges to overlapand contact shutter fashion, thereby preventing circulation of air and products of combustion between the bars, each of said bars being pivotally supported at its ends and provided with a downwardlydepending arm and a shifting bar extending beneath and engaged with the arms of each of the grate-bars.

5. In a furnace, the combination with a tirebox, a combustion-chamber into which the products of combustion pass from the firebox and a bridge-wall interposed between the tire-box and combustion-chamber, of a grate arranged in the upper part of the combustionchalnber and completely dividing the latter, said grate consisting of two longitudinallyextending grate-bars individual bars of which are made of fire-clay of relatively-fiat form in cross-section and arranged to extend transversely the furnace parallel with each other at such distance apart as to cause their edges to overlap and contact with each other shutter fashion when in position with their flat sides approximately horizontal, and thereby convert said grate into a closed partition, means for pivotally supporting said bars comprising trunnions secured to each end of each bar and having bearing engagement in bearing-blocks of refractory material and means for oscillating the grate-bars simultaneously comprising arms connected with and depending from the several grate-bars and a shifting bar arranged to extend longitudinally beneath each series of grate-bars and having pivotal engagement with each of the several ICO IIO

arms of the series of grate-bars beneath which it extends, substantially as described.

6. In a furnace, the combination of a lireboX and a combustion-chamber, a regenerating-grate arranged in the combustion-chamber in the path of the products of combustion and extending beneath the boiler and consisting of a series of movable, refractory blocks adapted to be closed to shutoff the products of combustion from the lowerpart of the combustion-chamber and to be opened to varying degrees to permit more or less circulation around them, to snit varying conditions of use, and means for operating said bars and holding them in their adjusted position, as and for the purposes set forth.

7. The combination with a boiler-furnace having a boiler, a irebox and a combustionchamber, of a refractory regenerating-grate arranged in the combustion-chamber in the path of the products of combustion, this grate consisting of a series of separated, movable parts, and means for Varying the spaces between the parts of the grate whereby the quantity of circulation in the part of the combustion-chamber below the grate maybe varied to suit the Varying conditions.

In testimony that We claim the foregoing as our invention we affix our signatures, in presence of two subscribing Witnesses, this 22d day of June, A. D. 1899.

ALFRED C. ADAMS. NUTE C. KNUTSON.

Witnesses:

lLS. FISH, E. E. RICHARDS. 

